This was one of the merits of confinement and teleworking: "With less travel by motorists, we were notably faced with fewer road accidents and rescue on public roads", explained at the beginning of the year. Direction of the departmental fire and rescue service of Val-d'Oise.
By staying at home, Ile-de-France residents were less exposed to the risk of injury… and therefore made less use of the emergency services.
But since Wednesday, with the euphoria linked to deconfinement, the reopening of bars and restaurants and the postponement of the curfew to 11 p.m., the trend has been reversed.
"We have observed for three days a clear overactivity in the emergency assistance to anyone from around 2 pm and not fading until around 11 pm, midnight", notes an internal note from the Paris fire brigade (BSPP) that we have obtained.
However, many firefighters are still working daily in vaccinodromes and the BSPP is "not able to absorb this overactivity", underlines the same note.
It lacks emergency vehicles and their crews.
A decision that makes you cough in the emergency services
The health division of the brigade therefore decided this Friday to give for "instructions to its operators of the call processing room to switch to the reception center and call regulation of the Samu all our white procedures at home", understand the interventions for non-urgent transport that could be provided by paramedics or a loved one.
The measure is effective “between 3 pm and 8 pm from today and tomorrow”.
After 8 pm, no more problem: "we recover victim relief vehicles with their crews following the closure of the vaccinodromes in which the brigade participates", underlines the note.
The announcement, without warning, caused a cough in the emergency services.
"It's more rewarding to vaccinate than to take care of emergencies at home!"
They could have warned two days before, ”tackles an emergency physician.
Rescue workers associations were called upon this afternoon.
Read also Paris: at the vaccine park at Porte de Versailles, it is the firefighters who sting you
If the BSPP was not in a position to comment on this decision this Friday evening, the Regional Health Agency (ARS) says it is "informed of the mobilization of the BSPP on the vaccinodromes, leading to the temporary unavailability of certain teams of 'intervention for the relief of victims'.
What happens to calls for a simple sprain, for example? “The specific
Samu tension plan
is activated during this period to ensure the operational continuity of home health assistance,” explains ARS. Samu teams, supported by approved civil security associations (red cross, civil protection, etc.), are mobilized to process requests for intervention. "
